日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N2

～いかんでは

~ikan de wa

depending on (formal)

When to use it

Use ～いかんでは when the outcome of something (results, performance, the other party's response) will determine what course of action follows. It is a stiff, documentary equivalent of ～次第では／～によっては, at home in reports, contracts, board materials and formal notices, but stilted in casual speech. 如何 means "how it turns out," so the pattern presupposes an outcome that is still undecided.

Formation

  • Noun: 名詞＋（の）いかんでは — 結果のいかんでは／対応いかんでは（の is often dropped in set phrases such as 対応いかん・結果いかん）
  • Verbs: cannot attach directly; nominalize first — 交渉が進むかどうか → 交渉の進捗のいかんでは
  • i-adjectives / na-adjectives: no direct attachment; use the corresponding noun — 高い→価格のいかんでは、必要だ→必要性のいかんでは
  • Related forms: ～いかんによって(は)、～いかんを問わず、～いかんにかかわらず (the last two mean "regardless of")
  • Usually written in kana (いかん) in modern documents, though 如何 appears in legal texts

Examples

  • Depending on how negotiations go, we may have no choice but to consider withdrawal.

  • Depending on the audit results, we will postpone the listing.

  • Depending on the other side's response, we'll scrap the contract.

  • Depending on this term's results, bonuses will be withheld.

  • Depending on the test results, we will revise the mass-production plan.